PRE-GAME RANT

Not many teams can bitch about injuries this year like the Oilers can. The Penguins can just based on having two elite players out of the lineup.. Malkin for the remainder of the season, and Crosby is very unknown (in fact his career is even up in the air). As much as people may hate Crosby, it’ll be a damn shame if the league loses another great player to concussion problems… especially before the guy even reached 24. Crosby’s injury is a tough one to prevent though, as to me it looked like accidental contact.

Anyways, enough of the headshot/concussion debate… the Oilers had a really tough loss vs. the Red Wings on Friday. I feel that the refereeing in that one was very one sided. The Oilers definitely were robbed of a win. I think they’ve got the legs to give the Penguins a run for their money. The Penguins are 3-3-4 in their last 10, while the Oilers are 4-5-1.

Like this:

I realize that hockey is a physical sport and it should remain that way. However it can still be physical without head-shots, I don’t understand why this is still a topic of debate. What does the league see in this?

Do you…
A) Keep “certain” head-shots in the game for the entertainment value of the fans at the risk/expense of the players?
B) Take them out of the game, eliminate a lot of the concussions at the expense of a cheap arousal/entertainment from the fans.

I see it like this, if you keep them in the game for the entertainment value how much money did you earn bringing in the people at that game vs. how much will you lose in the long run due to concussion/injury from head-shot… especially over a player like Crosby?

If it’s a question of “pride” or “tradition”, the game has already changed a lot, deal with it. I’m usually for the tradition but in this case not at the expense of the players elite level or not. Who complains about World Junior games?

zackman35: I realize that hockey is a physical sport and it should remain that way. However it can still be physical without head-shots, I don’t understand why this is still a topic of debate. What does the league see in this?Do you…A) Keep “certain” head-shots in the game for the entertainment value of the fans at the risk/expense of the players?B) Take them out of the game, eliminate a lot of the concussions at the expense of a cheap arousal/entertainment from the fans. I see it like this, if you keep them in the game for the entertainment value how much money did you earn bringing in the people at that game vs. how much will you lose in the long run due to concussion/injury from head-shot… especially over a player like Crosby? If it’s a question of “pride” or “tradition”, the game has already changed a lot, deal with it. I’m usually for the tradition but in this case not at the expense of the players elite level or not. Who complains about World Junior games?

One of the rule changes I would bring in is mandatory 10 game suspensions for any type of intent to injury infractions. That suspension would be doubled to 20 for the next infraction and then a 30 for the third that can be served into playoffs or into next year. Even if that player doesn’t sign with the team the following year that team plays short a man on the bench for the duration of the suspension.
If there is any evidence of a coach sending out a guy to head hunt that coach is suspended for the duration of the season. That stops some goon from being sent out
to take out some star player.
The refs make the calls and the players go in knowing full well what intent to injury means so there is no crying ignorance.
Thats just the begining but it’s a start.

victoriaoilerfan: One of the rule changes I would bring in is mandatory 10 game suspensions for any type of intent to injury infractions. That suspension would be doubled to 20 for the next infraction and then a 30 for the third that can be served into playoffs or into next year. Even if that player doesn’t sign with the team the following year that team plays short a man on the bench for the duration of the suspension.

If there is any evidence of a coach sending out a guy to head hunt that coach is suspended for the duration of the season. That stops some goon from being sent out
to take out some star player.

The refs make the calls and the players go in knowing full well what intent to injury means so there is no crying ignorance.

Thats just the begining but it’s a start.

I thought about something like that too V.O. but I think there is too much of a gray area in the intent to injure.

You are going to get some grey areas no matter what rules you try to apply. I think however that over time you will get most of the calls right. The ones you miss one time you will get the next. Overall it will start a culture change IMO. That is what is needed in the league but it takes time to get there. But it has to be started with rule changes that can be enforced and hurt like hell to get the players/owners/Gm’s attention.
as for the fighting. If you think about it, lets suppose we can get some of the dirty hits out of the game I suspect fighting will not be such an issue as well.
The league has to start somewhere.

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